Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
Everything Everywhere All At Once is far from the only film to embrace the complexity and WTF-ness of the multiverse, but it’s how it does it that really makes it trippy. The film blends genres and visual styles together at such a fast pace that it’s hard for your eyes to keep up. But if you can manage, it’s oh-so worth it.
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
I have never taken hallucinogenic drugs, but I imagine it would be something like watching a walrus devour baby clams, or flowers break into song, or a floating cat playing volleyball with its head—all things that happen in Alice in Wonderland.
The Matrix (1999)
Look up the word “trippy” in the dictionary, and you’ll find a GIF of Keanu Reeves’ iconic “Whoa” from The Matrix. Ok, you won’t actually find that, but you should!
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Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Sorry to Bother You director Boots Riley is known for his distinct and bright visual style that creates a heightened, exaggerated reality not unlike what one might experience on a high. The plot of Sorry to Bother You, which follows a telemarketer who shoots to the top by using his “white voice,” is also fully disorienting. In the best way, of course.
Yellow Submarine (1968)
You can’t talk about trippy movies without talking about Yellow Submarine. If you’ve never seen a Beatles movie, you should know they are weird as hell, but none so much as Yellow Submarine, an animated musical adventure that finds the band going up against the Blue Meanies. (Sadly, the film doesn’t appear to be streaming anywhere right now, but you can still watch full scenes, linked below.)
Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse (2023)
Just because a movie is trippy doesn’t mean it’s good to watch while under the influence. Case in point: Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, which moves so fast and is so visually overwhelming at times, it can be hard to keep up with, even when stone cold sober.
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Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasy film Pan’s Labyrinth features many trippy creatures, like the Pale Man with eyes on his palms or the giant toad that lives in a tree. But be warned: the movie, which takes place in a violent 1944 Spain, is trippy, but it is not whimsical.
Paprika (2006)
This anime film takes trippy to a whole new level. Paprika follows the story of a young woman, Paprika, who must travel through dreams and realities to stop a villain from using a machine that allows the user to enter into the dreams of others. (Think Inception, but more visually trippy and released 4 years earlier.)
Inception (2010)
Though not as visually mind boggling as Paprika, Inception is still pretty trippy. The plot—a dream heist that requires criminals to go many layers deep into their mark’s dreams—is trippy enough, but it’s the visual stunts, like the zero gravity fight, that really earn Inception a spot on this list.
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Us (2019)
Us might not be the first title that comes to mind when thinking of trippy movies, but I maintain that there is nothing more trippy than the idea that there are doubles of us living underground, eating raw rabbits and forced to act out a hollow impression of our lives until we die.
Eraserhead (1977)
David Lynch’s first feature is nothing short of disturbing. It’s one of those movies that’s impossible to describe, other than to say that you’re going to want to hang onto something if you want to retain your sanity by the end.
Annihilation (2018)
Annihilation is one of those trippy movies that turns fantasies into nightmares. The film follows a team of scientists who enter into “The Shimmer,” a biological disaster zone where a mysterious meteor has altered all living things around it.
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Fantasia (1940)
Fantasia is what I imagine must happen when someone drops acid and then listens to a mix of classical music. How else do you get to dancing hippos in tutus and magical brooms?
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Like The Matrix, 2001: A Space Odyssey questions the nature of our reality, technology, and human evolution. The science fiction film leaves a lot of questions unanswered and has been a hot topic of debate for over 50 years. How’s that for trippy?
Being John Malkovich (1999)
The plot of Being John Malkovichis simple: a puppeteer finds a hidden door in his office that leads him into the mind of John Malkovich. Makes sense, right? RIGHT???
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Enemy (2014)
In theory, the existence of two Jake Gyllenhaals is less trippy and more…exciting. But in Enemy, it’s actually a trippy nightmare that allows two men to explore their darkest desires and impulses.
Labyrinth (1986)
This ’80s classic has all the ingredients for a trippy movie: Fantasy! David Bowie! Puppets! A killer soundtrack!
Across the Universe (2007)
The Beatles recorded many songs that were seemingly about drugs—”Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” anyone?—so it makes sense that the band’s music would be the soundtrack to Julie Taymor’s visually stunning anti-war jukebox musical.
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Fantastic Planet (1973)
La planète sauvage, or Fantastic Planet, is a French-language animation film about a future alien society where men are slaves to giant blue humanoids. No, you’re not high, that’s actually just the plot.
Beetlejuice (1988)
I firmly believe that there is nothing about Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice that would be out of place in a drug-induced hallucination. And this is why I do not do drugs.
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